Although some members previously said they would not vote to raise taxes higher than the 2.1 percent index, members voted to apply for the exceptions as a precautionary measure.

South Western School District will be able to raise taxes above its 2.1 percent index in 2013-14.

Business Manager Jeff Mummert announced last week the Department of Education approved the district's request for tax-hike exceptions in both retirement and special education under the Act 1 Taxpayer Relief Act of 2006.

Although some members of the board have previously said they would not vote to raise taxes higher than the 2.1 percent index, members voted to apply for the exceptions in January as a precautionary measure.

With the approved exceptions, the district can raise taxes up to 5.21 percent, which is equivilent to .88 mills, Mummert said. This increase would cost the owner of a $146,000 home roughly $129, he said.

Yet, Mummert said he does not think board members will vote to raise taxes past the initial 2.1 percent index.There has only been one year since Act 1 went into effect when the board did not apply for at least one exception, he said.

In the past, even though the state granted requests, in most cases the board members decided not to exercise the exception, he said. The board voted to use part of an exception one year, he said.
Board members did not discuss the exception approval during Wednesday's meeting.

The preliminary budget the board approved in February is around $56.9 million. This is roughly a 2.37 percent increase from the 2012-13 budget.

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South Western 's budget still is in the primary stages of development, and board members will continue to work on a finalized version over the next several months.